As any breastfeeding mother will tell you, breastfeeding is one of the cornerstones of early motherhood. It is not only a way to feed your baby with one of nature’s most nourishing and miraculous foods, it also helps you and your baby to bond physically and emotionally and to continue the symbiotic relationship that began during your pregnancy.

Although we humans have been breastfeeding our babies since the dawn of humankind, it is a skill that we learn and relearn along with each baby that we give birth to.

Here are some ideas that may help you and your baby get off to a successful start in your breastfeeding relationship:

Ever since I was carrying my first child, I have enjoyed drawing the form of a pregnant woman’s body. I created this image by drawing simultaneously with my left and right hands. I have been doing quite a bit of drawing and painting with my non-preferred hand lately, as a way of accessing my more instinctual, uninhibited self.

I started nurturing the idea of becoming a doula back in 2011 when I attended Michel Odent’s mind-altering Paramana Doula course. Seven years, two babies (making three in total) and one country later, here I am taking my first steps into the big wide world of birth work.

After three births of my own, I had developed confidence and trust in my own body’s process. However, in 2017, when I was given the honour of attending two births in my community, I was offered the profound experience of being a guardian of another woman’s labour and birth experience. It gave me confirmation that I was on the right path with those tentative, exploratory steps all those years ago and the call of working with birth beckoned ever stronger.

So here I am, offering myself to parents-to-be in Portugal, in the form of this site and all the potential love and energy it carries with it. I hope this is the beginning or rather the continuation of a long, fruitful journey.